Lionel Messi hat trick fuels Argentina's 4-3 win over Brazil

Mehdi Taamallah/AFP PHOTOLionel Messi celebrates after scoring his third goal in Argentina's 4-3 victory against Brazil.

There is a timeless aspect, when an athlete already renowned and celebrated for greatness adds another layer to legacy. Though we’ve watched before on television, absorbed countless highlight reels on the internet, even marveled as stats so bloated they appear incomputable flood Twitter feeds, there is an unabating hunger for the next feat to unravel.

Perhaps no athlete in the world is as ceaselessly impressive as Lionel Messi. In Spain, soccer’s reigning king has starred as the centerpiece of Barcelona’s surge toward 14 titles in four years. At MetLife Stadium today, in front of the largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in New Jersey, Messi continued to reach ethereal heights.

In leading his national side, Argentina, past rival Brazil, 4-3, in the first Clasico contested on American soil, Messi scored three times, a hat trick concluded with a game-winning goal that illustrated the words of Mano Manezes, the Brazil manager who after the match responded to a question about harnessing Messi by saying, “No one has found a solution. That is why he’s the best.”

It was the first hat trick by an Argentinean against Brazil since Jose Sanfilippo accomplished the feat in 1959, and the first hat trick allowed by Brazil in 30 years.

Through 84 minutes, the powerhouse national teams engaged the 81,994 in attendance with a lively, combative match -- in a rare occurrence for a friendly, each side was shown a red card, in the final minute. The teams traded goals, near goals and hard tackles until the score was tied at 3-3 and Messi received the ball at his feet along the right sideline, 50 yards from goal.

Messi began a diagonal sprint towards the top of the half circle above the penalty box, 22 yards from goal, at the center of the field. The jetstream created by the chopping of his feet made his brown hair flop up and down. Marcelo, the Brazil left back, sprinted from behind to catch Messi but watched the Argentina captain disappear up ahead.

As Messi approached Juan, the Brazil center back stationed 25 yards from goal, he shifted course, drifting parallel to goal for a moment before planting his right foot, cocking his left foot and lifting the ball he had dragged along the MetLife Stadium lawn for nearly 30 yards. An instant later, the ball was past Rafael, Brazil’s helpless goalkeeper who dove for the ball anyway, and into the top left corner of the net.

Manezes felt his team, aside from containing Messi, had played well enough to win. The Brazilians scored twice on set pieces, once from Romulo, on a free kick, and another from Hulk, after Argentina’s goalkeeper, Sergio Romero, bobbled a corner kick. Oscar also scored, connecting on a nifty one-two with Leandro Damiao inside the penalty box, and Neymar, the 20-year-old striker who has become Brazil’s next superstar, provided a threat all game.

Manezes, looking ahead to the Olympics in July, fielded a young squad. His center backs, Bruno Uvini and Juan are each 20 years old. Messi exploited their naive bravery, as Manezes put it, slicing between the two to connect with Gonzalo Higuain’s sharp pass in the 31st minute.

Three minutes later, he played a one-two with Angel Di Maria, with the Brazil center backs again out of position. Messi sprinted, then stuttered his feet. He flicked the ball to the right of Rafael, and scored with his left foot. Federico Fernandez’s headed goal in minute 75 tied the game at 3-3, setting the stage for Messi to thrill once more.

After the game, Mariano Rivera, the Yankees closer who has set his own standard for greatness in Major League Baseball, waited with reporters and fans to catch a glimpse of Messi. A security guard picked Rivera out of the mob and invited him into the Argentina locker room. At that moment, an athlete who had experienced his own measure of greatness had become just a fan.